Garjzla un Myrkr
by Ageboar1212
Summary: 27 years after Galbatorix's death, Eragon thinks all will be well. however where there is light there will be darkness and where there is darkness there will always be someone out for power. Any and all reviews are welcome as they only help me become a better writer.
1. Thinking Of Home

**A/N: I will only say this once because it takes time to write disclaimers to fanfics. I do not own the Inheritance cycle, only the people I create.**

The wind blew through Eragon's hair as he flew on top of Saphira. There was no feeling that could compare to having the freedom of a dragon rider. Thinking back over the last 27 years, he couldn't help but feel distraught over leaving both his family and friends. Not to mention his new born niece, Ismira. In fact Roran and Katrina had had two more children in the last decade: Garrow, a boy of three; named after Roran's father, and Nina a girl of seven.

_Saphira, do you think that we will ever be able to return home and live peacefully, without the trouble of leadership?_

_I'm afraid that might not be possibility, little one. Did Angela not say that we would leave Alagaësia forever?_

Eragon fell into a slump on his saddle, as Saphira began her descent to the group of awaiting dragon riders, in training, upon the ground. Although Eragon enjoyed passing down his knowledge to the future dragon riders, he could not help but think that the urgal and dwarf riders would never fit in with the others. He always felt unfulfilled when he saw an urgal or dwarf rider sitting alone.

_Sit up straight little one! _Saphira mentally shouted to her rider Eragon _it would not do well for the young ones to see their master in a miserable demeanour as he started the lesson._

_You seem to forget that not all of them are young. In fact the elf Vákni is over one hundred years older than us both._

Saphira made a rumbling sound deep within her chest witch Eragon assumed was laughter, as they finally landed in the group of three riders. The group consisted of two humans, a male called Audin and a female called Laurin, who were twins, and one elf Vákni who was also female. Laurin stumbled slightly as she got off her male dragon Djärfr (A/N: Means daring) to approach Eragon. Audin got off his female dragon skaði (A/N: Means damage) and Vákni jumped off her female dragon Forvitni (A/N: Means curiosity).

"Good morning Ebrithil," Laurin stated "what is our lesson about today?"

"I was thinking that today we could practice breaking into each other's minds whilst the dragon practice long distance flying. It isn't long until you become full dragon riders and you need to be prepared for your journey to Alagaësia."

As Saphira flew off to train the dragons, Eragon paired Audin and Laurin against Vákni to try and gain access to her mind. As it was required for the riders to practice every day, it didn't take long for the twins to beat her. However it did take lots of energy out of them. Vákni scowled when she lost as elves evolved to be stronger than humans but the twins were not ordinary, little did anybody know, they were distant relatives of one of the early riders Atferö, who was a traitor to the old order long before Galbatorix.

As a 'final exam', Eragon had them attack his mind one at a time, then as a force. Although no one managed to beat Eragon, Vákni came close to overcoming his defences. On the other hand, as a group they managed to catch Eragon by surprise and take over his mind for a moment before he threw them out again.

"Enough!"

They had been mentally fighting for two hours and they were exhausted. It had reached mid-day and sweat was dripping down their faces in the baking sun. They turned to Eragon.

"We have been fighting for long enough," Eragon said calmly "in a magician's duel it always comes down to mental battles but you need to practice your sword skills"

"But Ebrithil, we've been fighting for hours!" exclaimed a very tired Audin "we can't take any more."

Suddenly, a young boy of about twelve ran down the giant steps into the rider training grounds. He bowed low to Eragon before handing him a note with a wax seal on the front.

"It's a message from the Queen, Sir. It arrived just five minutes ago. I was told to bring it to you immediately!"

"You've done your job well Roland, thank you"

Eragon cracked open the seal and peeked inside. It read:

Dear Eragon, I hope you are well. It has been a while since we last spoke in person, has it not? Three years in fact! We have had some troubling news involving the elves. One of the men from Gil'ead has gone missing in the middle of Du Weldenvarden near Ellesméra. We were hoping you could contact Arya to send out a search party as we cannot bypass the wards around the forest. Contact us as soon as Arya sends out the search party.

Yours sincerely, Nasuada, Queen of the Broddring Kingdom.

Eragon set down the piece of parchment and reached inside his tunic to pull out a mirror about the size of his outstretched palm. He looked into the eyes of his reflection. After the long years he had change so much. No longer did he have sandy brown hair, but a lighter brown with strands of grey from his stressful time as leader of the riders. Also he had a few wrinkles under his eyes and at the corners of his mouth.

"Draumr kópa" Eragon whispered under his breath. After a few seconds Arya's face appeared on the smooth surface of the mirror.


	2. A Friend, Then A Traitor

**A/N: thank you Niet boeiend for reviewing. I always appreciate a reviewer's opinion as it helps me greatly in my writing. I will hopefully make the next chapters longer.**

"Hello Eragon, I hope you are well," Commented Arya on Eragon's ill looking figure " you seem older."

"Aye, it is the stress getting to me. I fear I won't be a sufficient leader for much longer as training dragon riders is too much work. I will have to appoint extra teachers."

"I hope your troubles will be over shortly. However we must get down to the problem at hand. I already know about the missing man."

"Aye, Nasuada wanted you to send out a search party to look for him."

"We did not an hour ago. Is there anything else that you need help with?"

Before Eragon could reply, a stout dwarf ran into the training grounds and yelled "Lord Eragon, Háski is missing!"

"Calm down Zorrin, I'm sure she couldn't have gotten far, she is a hatchling after all. I'm sorry Arya, I must take my leave. Don't worry Zorrin we will find her together, we will search the entire grounds if we have to."

Eragon left the training area at a brisk pace followed quickly by the dwarf. As they traveled through the grounds, He heard a high pitched growl coming from a bush a few metres to the left. He put up his hand to stop the dwarf and stalked towards the it, breathing lightly. Whatever was in that bush Eragon didn't want to scare it off. He needed to make sure it wasn't dangerous as lots of Alalëa was left undiscovered.

Suddenly, a mouse charged out from under the bush with a dragon in hot pursuit with smoke trailing out of its nostrils. The dragon was a royal purple with huge leathery wings double the average size of a normal dragon's as dwarfs are heavier than humans and especially elves. With a lunge, the dragon caught the rat between its teeth just before Eragon grabbed hold of it's scaly but smooth underbelly. Then Eragon realised that they had been looking for five hours and it was almost nightfall.

"Damn, I forgot about the riders, they're still at the training grounds."

* * *

Laurin's dragon, Djärfr, looked at Vákni with one big golden eye then asked _why do you always disagree with my rider?_

"I have no wish to train with _humans._ you do not deserve to be riders. I know of your heritage and your ancestry. I know of Atferö the greatest threat to the dragon riders long before Galbatorix. The only reason he didn't take over was because the riders were not senile old fools!

Vákni stepped closer to Laurin, scowling as she did. When she was only three feet away she unsheathed her sword and placed the point of the blade against her neck, as quick as a lightning bolt, Audin placed his blade under Vákni's and flicked his wrist causing her blade to drop to the ground.

"Don't get in my way, human!" Lunging forward, she grabbed a knife and plunged it deep within his stomach. She cut right through his organ like a boat through water.

Laurin stood there in shock before swiping her blade from its sheath and lunging towards Vákni in anger. Vákni ducked, rolled and grabbed her blade Before counter attacking, unsurprised at Laurin's reaction. As she blocked the oncoming attack, Laurin jabbed her heel into Vákni's shin, breaking the bone into two pieces. .

_Forvitni, help me _Vákni cried mentally to her dragon.

Her dragon jumped towards the duelling pair and grabbed her rider to free her from Laurin's onslaught. However, Laurin saw it coming and latched onto one of Forvitni's spines. She struggled to stay on the dragon as it corkscrewed through the sky. For ten minutes they tangled in the air, until Vákni finished healing her wound and swiped her sword at Laurin's arms. However, Laurin managed to escape the sharp edge.

With one final swipe, Vákni dislodged Laurin from her dragon's back and she fell from the sky. As she tumbled through the air, Laurin readied her magic to stop herself from falling. Just before she hit the ground, she screamed "letta!"

She hung four feet above the ground before she fell unconscious due to lack of energy after using such a strong spell. Djärfr had followed the trio whilst they fought in the air unable to reach them. However he picked her up in one paw and carried her back to the training grounds to an extremely worried Eragon and and dying Audin.

"What happened here?" Screamed an extremely worried Eragon "is Laurin okay? Where's Vákni gone?"

_Ebrithil Vákni tried to attack Laurin. As Audin protected her, she stabbed him in the stomach. Skaõi and I were stopped by Forvitni._

Eragon nodded to show he understood before picking up Audin, "we have to get the them to the healers, now."

Djärfr nodded and scooped Laurin up again in his paw before stretching his wings. He leaped off the ground before flapping his great wings in unison. Flapping until he reached a high enough altitude, he zoomed forward in attempt to reach rescue for his rider as she couldn't in her unconscious state upon his scaly back.

* * *

Audin was lying on a mattress with Eragon and Laurin sitting around him protectively. He had a new healed stomach which was previously cut open by Vákni. However he had a fever which refused to go down.

"he's not going to make it, is he?" Asked Laurin hopefully.

"Although it looks improbable, he is tough and will make it. Eka vita älfr munu lifa (I know he will live)." Eragon replied, reassuring her.

Even though they had waited for three days they were still willing to wait a lot longer before he moved at all. Suddenly, he started trembling. Growing more wild he fell off the bed into the arms of Laurin who caught him just in time.

"Help me hold him down!" Shouted Laurin over Audin's constant yells "call the healer."

Eragon mentally searched for the healer before jumping into her mind. He asked for her to come to them before converging back into reality with one of Audin's flailing limbs hitting him in the face. Luckily the healer ran in with her assistant, before he could do any more damage. The assistant held open Audin's mouth whilst the healer poured in a thick, steaming, purple liquid which would help with the fever.

"That potion should help with his fever but I had to put him into a deeper sleep to stop him from writhing around. That will slow down his heartbeat."

For hours they waited until Audin's breath became more infrequent and ragged. His heartbeat slowed until it was almost non existent.

"What's happening?" Asked Laurin worried for her brother "he can't be dying!"

As if it were a miracle, Audin opened his eyes with a huge breath, sat up and screamed "Laurin!"

* * *

"We have to leave now, Forvitni!" Yelled an unnerved and delirious Vákni "we cannot go back for anything."

_But even I know that Alalëa is almost empty of edible plants for elves. You won't have enough food or water for even a day._

Vákni waited for a moment, staring at the ground in thought. Her eyes grew blank as she cast out her mind in search for plants which could provide any food for the dragon rider and if plants could grow then water must be out there. All she could find were a few brambles with berries on and a wild apple tree sitting on the flat plains raging for miles. Forvitni was right, there wasn't enough food for a mole out there. However if they could make it to the forest 65 miles to the east they could find plenty of food and water. no, she wouldn't make it. she wouldn't be able to draw water out of the ground as she used all her energy on healing her leg.

"Okay. I will sneak in tonight and steal some food. It will be dark soon."

All of a sudden a gigantic sapphire dragon glided above the set of caves the pair were staying in surprising the two bonded outlaws. It was Saphira! For half an hour the pair stayed silent as Saphira scouted the skies above the caves. Luckily for Vákni and Forvitni Saphira didn't stay long and took off heading south further along the plains.

However after a while Saphira came back and flew down towards the hiding spot. She tried sniffing out the pair as she had been sent out by Eragon to scout them out and apprehend them. After 10 minutes she leaped into the awaiting air and flapped hard to gain altitude before heading north back to the riders protected fortress.

"Phew, that was close," commented Vákni on Saphira's appearance "we could've been seen. We need to get out of here."

* * *

Vákni ran into the corridor leading to the rider's kitchen and food hall. As the last cooks exited the kitchens and locked the large oak doors, Vákni skulked away in the shadows waiting for them to leave. After they walked out of the corridor, Vákni crept to the door. With a quick spell Vákni unlocked the door and inched through the entrance.

She searched all of the draws and cupboards looking for the required items. She had made a list of all the items she needed which contained bread, fruit, vegetables, water, a cooking pot, a wooden bowl and a wooden spoon.

Searching for a while, Vákni found the food and cooking equipment and quickly slung the bag she was carrying over her shoulder. She stopped suddenly, thinking of any more things she could grab before she made her way back towards Forvitni. Deciding upon nothing, she sidled towards the door hoping that nobody was outside of the door.

Just as Vákni was about to run towards the exit, the door was launched open by none other than Eragon and Laurin as Audin was still resting in the medical room. The door crashed loudly against the wall damaging the old oak beyond repair. Eragon scowled at Vákni and Laurin stared dumbstruck at the bag over her shoulder.

"Here she is!"

"Eragon, now's our chance, grab her!"

They both charged forward grabbing Vákni's arms in unison before twisting them behind her back. Pushing her to the ground, Eragon uttered a spell to stop her from speaking, instead she just scowled. Laurin pushed harder against her arm and back and dislocated her shoulder. Unable to move Vákni just waited in horror wondering what punishment would be awaiting her.

"We've been looking for you for hours now Vákni."

"We are taking you to the council to give you a trial before deciding upon your retribution," whispered Eragon into her ear "even you deserve one."

However Laurin didn't think so. She wanted revenge and she was going to get it, one way, or another.


	3. Trial and Punishment

**A/N: Thank you for reviewing a second time Niet boeiend. You're my only reviewer so far :( However I do agree that I made a rather big jump right after chapter 1 but Vákni attacked the twins because they were related to a traitor. It makes her look like a good guy and a bad guy at the same time. By the way Háski is Zorrin's(the dwarf's) dragon and as this is my first fanfic, I may have forgotten to add in details, so forgive me if I do. Now onto the new chapter! Three chapters in a week, I have no life :(**

They were waiting for the five council members to assemble in the meeting hall. Three of which were already there including Umaroth; the eldunari, Wigmar; the first dwarf rider of the dragons from the vault of souls, and Aineias, one of the elves who came from Alagaësia on the Talíta who became a rider three years later. They were still awaiting Murtagh, who came out of isolation 15 years before, and Ragnû, who was the son of Garzhvog the war chief.

Vákni was bound at the wrists to ensure she could not escape. She was also drugged to stop her from using magic or communicate with Forvitni. However, Forvitni was not captured as Vákni refused to allow anyone access into her mind. On the other hand, if the council agreed with the lead rider, Eragon would force his way into her mind so she couldn't do anything against the new order.

Eragon and Laurin stood side by side in the centre of the hall, in front of the three council members. They were growing impatient and Laurin was tapping her foot on the marble floor. Scowling, she crossed her arms and let out a breath of hot air in annoyance.

Throwing the doors open in the process, Murtagh stalked into the room quickly followed by Ragnû. Murtagh sat to the left of Umaroth's eldunari whilst Ragnû sat In-between Aineias and Wigmar. Seeing everyone at the table Eragon walked over and sat directly in the middle with Umaroth's eldunari in front of him.

"What is going on here?" Murtagh demanded "the whole fortress is in an uproar!"

_Peace Murtagh, all is well_ replied Umaroth truthfully.

"Is it about her?" He asked pointing towards Vákni angrily, with a shaking hand. He couldn't stand riders who opposed the order, he thought they would turn out like Galbatorix and he didn't want anybody to be enslaved again.

"Aye, she attacked Laurin and Audin and almost killed them in the process."

"We must decide on a suitable punishment for her behaviour!" Yelled Ragnû in his guttural voice "the twins deserve justice!"

"We will have to vote to decide."

In turn, the group nodded to each other and stood up to leave the room with Eragon following quickly. For an hour the group conversed in the small room trying to come to an agreement on the punishment given to Vákni. When Laurin was about to fall asleep, because it was late at night, the council returned from their meeting and sat back down on the table with Eragon in the middle.

"We have come to an agreement about your punishment Vákni," stated Eragon calmly "Ono eru aurbodo fra Alagaësia un Alalëa (you are banished from Alagaësia and Alalëa)."

Vákni stared shocked, her eyes wide and mouth hanging open. After staring at the assembled leaders, she dropped her gaze and looked towards the floor. A tear silently trickled down her face. She was thankful they could not see her under her flowing black hair. She looked up again, her anger displayed freely for all to see.

"You can't do this to me, she's the one who was going to betray us! She's the great…"

"We know that she is related to Atferö," stated Eragon cutting her off in the process "however he was around many years ago and has had no influence upon Laurin at all."

Again Vákni opened her mouth in surprise. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. They knew but they still let Laurin live amongst them, they still taught her the ways of the riders! However, no matter how hard she could try, there was nothing she could do about it.

_Our decision is final, young one. May you leave this land and never return!_ Cried Umaroth through the power of mind communication.

Eragon winced when he heard Umaroth, remembering back to Angela's prophecy: Your fate will be to leave this land forever. He always felt empty when he heard those words spoken as he remembered that he would never be able to go back to Alagaësia and see his friends.

_Don't get upset over it, little one. We both knew we wouldn't be able to stop it, Angela even said so_ said Saphira, desperately trying to comfort her rider.

_Thank you Saphira, where would I be without you?_

_Stuck on a farm, doing the same work day in, day out._

Suddenly, Wigmar stepped over to the door, opened it and said to a guard "send out a fully trained rider and his dragon, ask him to try and gather some wild dragons to help him. Tell them to look for Forvitni."

* * *

Audin was lying down on the soft mattress in the medical room. With every passing minute, he could feel himself regaining his energy and strength. However, the healers refused to let him up without Eragon's consent.

I'm sure you will be able to get up soon, partner of my mind, said Skaði reassuringly to his rider Eragon knows, from first-hand experience, how quickly a rider can recover. According to Saphira, Eragon once had his back sliced open by the shade Durza and was back on his feet only a few days later.

Skaði was like an adopted son for Saphira as she couldn't find her mate in any other dragon. In fact, all of the dragons she trained were like her own because they had to grow up without their parents. To her, Firnen was both the only one she could and couldn't be with sue to their duties.

Starting to get bored, Audin remembered the scrolls Eragon had given him for 'homework'. Although, they were in skaði's saddle bags. He just had to get someone else to get them for him. 10 minutes later the healer came over to check on him. Finding this the right moment he asked if she could get the scrolls from his dragon's saddle bags. She walked out of the room to the courtyard to get them from skaði.

After waiting for a couple of minutes Audin started reading a scroll about spirits and shades. The piece of parchment contained much information about how to control spirits, the risks of controlling them and how a shade can be formed. The page even contained knowledge of Durza and Varaug, the latest shades to pose a threat to Alagaësia.

For hours he read, until an unexpected visitor appeared by his bedside. It was Laurin. Wasn't she supposed to be with the council?

"Laurin what are you doing here?"

"I came to get you, Eragon gave you permission to leave the medical room."

"Why? According to the healer I need to 'rest'. Plus I need to finish the work Eragon gave us about shades."

"Don't worry about that, I'm sure he will give you a day off because of your injuries."  
With that she grabbed him by his left wrist and yanked him up off the bed. At first he stumbled, not being used to using his legs after hours of sitting in bed. However, after a few seconds, he managed to stand upright and followed Laurin out of the room.

* * *

The search party had flown over the large plains for over an hour until they came to a cave system. The leader, an urgal rider named Agrenòst, told his pitch black dragon, Kultaa, to land by the caves to look for Forvitni. In a larch stretch of plains, a cave is the best place to hide as there's not a lot of shrubbery, especially in Alalëa.

The two wild dragons a deep red and a light brown touched down beside Kultaa in front of the cave entrance. The three dragons challenged any inhabitants to leave the caves, by roaring loudly into the echoey tunnel. When nobody answered, the lead dragon and his rider stepped inside wearily.

As if from nowhere, a medium sized but scared dragon leaped from the shadows. It crashed into the nearest target who happened to be Kultaa. The two dragons tumbled around trying to gain dominance until one of the wild dragons jumped forward separating them.

The dragon was soon pinned by the wild one and it's two partners. The dragon was a female. Not only that, it was Forvitni!

_don't try anything Forvitni. There are three of us and only one of you_ said Kultaa calmly.

Forvitni whined in pain as the three dragons crushed her beneath their combined weight. She roared quietly as the largest wild one dug their claws into her chest, because she tried to escape the dragons.

_If you come with us quietly, you shall not be harmed and you and your rider can face your banishment peacefully._

Forvitni's eyes widened at this knowledge. They were banished and Vákni had not told her, she had not told her anything. How could she not tell her of the approaching dragons?

* * *

Vákni was being pulled along by Eragon and Murtagh in between the two rows of dragon riders and visitors from Alagaësia and the nearest town. The town had been set up for all people who wanted a fresh start away from their home country.

There were constant yells of "traitor" or "murderer" as not many people knew if Audin had survived the attack. However it was impossible to determine who was saying what because everyone was yelling at the elf bound by the hands in rope. Many of the people knew Audin and Laurin personally as they always tried to help everyone they could.

Occasionally a rotten piece of fruit or a stone was thrown at the group but wards had been put in place to ensure nobody was hurt. An injured prisoner would just be a liability. Suddenly people started to quieten as Laurin stumbled through the crowd with Audin following right behind her. Eventually everyone stopped talking entirely.

There were whispers of "he's alive" and "how could this be?" Suddenly people started cheering because of Audin's devotion to both dragon riders and civilians alike. Saving his sister was the perfect proof that he was worthy of becoming a dragon rider and protector of the peace.

"Known inhabitants of Alalëa, it has come to a decision that Vákni, rider of Forvitni, will be banished from both Alagaësia and Alalëa. She has been sent away to Sharktooth Island for the rest of her days." Cried Eragon to the gathered mob of people.

The gathered people cheered in unison at the result of the council's debate. They were all worried that Vákni was going to become like Galbatorix and enslave them all. However, they were now reassured that she could do no harm.

Laurin walked over to Vákni with her head held high before saying, loud enough for everyone to hear, "I hope you suffer on that island."

All of a sudden, four dragons flew down into the courtyard. One of whom was bound by the 'ankles' and had her jaw trapped shut by a thick piece of rope. The bound dragon was Forvitni and she had large gashes on her chest from the wild dragon. An urgal got off of the largest dragon. It was Agrenòst. He approached Eragon and said, "we have captured Forvitni as was required. We want nothing more to do with them. With that he walked off and Eragon continued along down the street.


End file.
